The Miluo River is divided into two branches, the south branch is called "Mishui", which is the main source; The north branch is called "Luoshui", and it meets Qu Tan in Miluo City, so it is called Miluo River. Above Changle, the river flows through the hilly and mountainous areas, the water system is developed, and the water volume is abundant; Below Changle, the tributaries have less inflow, and the river channel is wide and navigable, making it the largest river in the lakeside area of South Dongting Lake.

Two thousand years ago, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 278 BC, the patriotic poet Qu Yuan committed suicide by throwing himself into the river here; Two thousand years later, on December 26, 1941, the Japanese invaders and the Chinese army faced each other across the river, and on this second line of defense, which was highly valued by Lao Jiang, Xue Yue and Sun Yumin, hundreds of thousands of troops confronted each other, and a great war was about to break out!

On the evening of the 26th, Toshima Botaro received information that "the Chinese troops on the south bank of Mishui were retreating one after another", so he decided to attack the south bank of Mishui in advance, and strictly ordered his subordinate units to advance to the area on the south bank of Mishui before dawn on the 28th, and attack the Chinese army on the front line of the southern highlands of Guiyi. However, he miscalculated wishful thinking, not to mention that the Chinese army did not withdraw before a fight, and in the cold and snowy season, there was not a single bridge on the bare Miluo River that could accommodate people, and all the bridges, whether they were stone bridges and wooden bridges, or ships that could erect pontoon bridges, and even the wooden planks of the surrounding houses were burned to the ground, leaving no material for the Japanese army to help them cross the river. The Miluo River is not like the Xinqiang River, people can wade through the water on foot, although it is the dry season, but the deepest part of the river is 3 or 4 meters, and it is impossible for people to wade through. The 29th Brigade and the 3rd Cavalry Wing, the forward troops of the 3rd Division, were unable to cross the river that day, so they had no choice but to start camping and resting in Jiangbei.

Like the problems encountered by the 3rd Division, the 6th Division was also blocked by a flood of water, and although it had been trying to cross the river, it was also helpless to try its best. Toshima Botaro learned the method of the 40th Division, and divided the troops into two columns, left and right, the left flank was the troops under the command of the commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment Takehara, and the right flank was the backbone of the 45th Infantry Wing. Toshima had to order his troops to stop their advance and start building bridges near Nagaraku Street, but it was still difficult because the Nationalist army had implemented a policy of clearing the wilderness with strong walls, and it was impossible to find so many materials for laying pontoon bridges in a short period of time.

The same situation happened to the Japanese 40th Division, which was unable to cross the river not only on the 26th, but even on the 27th. For a time, the three elite divisions of the Japanese army on the north bank of the Miluo River began to do the same thing, collecting materials for building bridges and preparing to build bridges on the river.

The three divisions were blocked by the same river, and the three divisions were stumped by the same problem, which made Anan Weiji, who moved the headquarters from Wuhan to Yueyang, very depressed, but fortunately, the chief of staff reminded him in time: "Your Excellency Commander, General Shunliu Hata has promised us that the First Flying Regiment can support the operation at any time, isn't it time to use them?" ”

"Kinoshita-kun, the First Flying Regiment can help in the war, but the warriors of the Imperial Army can't swim across the river to fight the Chinese!" Anan was blowing his beard and glaring in a hurry, and when he heard the words of the chief of staff, he replied a little angrily.

"Of course, it is impossible for soldiers to swim across the river to fight in winter, and for the time being, they don't need the First Flying Regiment to help in the war, they only need to help bring some rubber boats. Those guys in the Navy must have a lot of these things, you can ask them for some support. ”

"Rubber boats? How I didn't think of it! Yo Xi, Kinoshita-kun, you have a lot of credit! Having a solution to crossing the river, Anan Yui excitedly praised Kinoshita Yong.

Anan quickly got in touch with the navy through the dispatch headquarters, quickly obtained this batch of supplies, and with the assistance of the 1st Flying Regiment, airdropped rubber boats to the three divisions and regiments the next day.

It is also strange to say that the enemy and us fought from the Xinqiang River to the vicinity of the Miluo River, and in the past three days, except for the snow at the beginning of the war, the rain and snow actually stopped for the next two days, and it was not until the two armies confronted each other at the Miluo River on the 28th that heavy snow began again.

At dawn the next day, the 3rd Cavalry Wing of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army and its supporting units first began to cross the river with their horses.

Defending opposite the devil is the 99th Army of the National Army, the commander of the army, Fu Zhongfang, has jurisdiction over the 97th, 99th, and 197th divisions, and the same as the 37th Army and the 58th Army, which belong to the establishment of the Central Army.

Although Fu Zhongfang graduated from the Baoding Army Military Academy, he has a great advantage, he is a native of Zhejiang, and Lao Jiang can be regarded as a fellow villager, so he will lead the position of commander of the 99th Army as the commander of the 99th Division. Although he was not a good fighter, he was a steady soldier and extremely loyal and obedient to Lao Chiang.

He knew that it was impossible to stop the pace of the Japanese attack by relying on the shallow water in front of him alone, so he had always strictly ordered the troops to take precautions, and he was worried that the 92nd Division and the 197th Division would not do their best to defend, so he actually put his descendant 99th Division at the forefront.

According to common sense, it is impossible to let the cavalry go ahead in this kind of offensive war, but Toshima Botaro did the opposite. Although he sent the 2nd Brigade of the 34th Infantry Wing as a subordinate of the cavalry, he still believed too much in the information he had obtained that the so-called "Nationalist Army is gradually retreating", and sent the first batch of the 3rd Cavalry Wing to cross the river, with a very clear and simple purpose, to pursue the Nationalist troops to Gejiaping, 10 kilometers west of Guiyi, and occupy there.

Toshima Botaro had heard that the 6th Division had been attacked in the Xinqiang River, so he was very careful, and before crossing the river, he ordered the mountain artillery and field artillery brigades to carpet up the area on the other side of the river where it might be a Chinese position. Convinced that no Chinese troops had been found, the cavalry and horses of the 3rd Cavalry Wing began to cross the river.

The rubber boats soon carried the first batch of horses and cavalry, and then returned to deliver the second batch.

The first group of people and horses crossed the river unharmed, which made the devils really believe the "fact" that there were no Chinese defenders on the other side of the river, but just as the rubber boat was transporting the second group of men and horses, a gunshot suddenly rang out on the other side of the river, a pistol shot.

Immediately after the pistol, the heavy roar of the Maxim heavy machine gun, which was the equivalent of a standard weapon, also rang out.

The soldiers of the national army were afraid of the slightly "cheerful" gurgling sound of the devil's "pheasant neck", and the devil soldiers were not afraid of the roar of Makqin, which was like tearing metal.

There is a very simple way for devil veterans and officers to quickly judge the strength of the defenders, that is, to listen to the sound of the Makqin machine gun, from this characteristic sound, it can be clearly known whether it is the ragtag army in the Chinese army or the central army that is defending.

Just like the Sichuan army defending the Xinqiang River, Wang Chaokui's second battalion gathered a total of five Makqin, which could play a very limited role in such a wide battlefield. At that time, the sound of heavy machine guns was far less than the current sudden sound on the position on the south bank of the Miluo River, and the rifles used by the Central Army were not like the Sichuan Army, they were all Chinese and formal, except that the penetration power was not as good as the 38 big cover, and the performance in all other aspects was surpassed. When gunfire rang out like a storm on the other side of the river, the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Wing of the Japanese Army, who commanded the crossing of the river, was immediately dumbfounded, knowing that not only the lives of the horses and soldiers who were crossing the river were not guaranteed, but also the first group of people who had already crossed the river would not be able to escape. He had fought a lot of battles, but he had never encountered such a situation, and he didn't know what to do for a while, but fortunately, the commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 34th Infantry Wing, which was assigned to his command, reminded him in time and asked him to immediately order the troops that were preparing to cross the river to withdraw, and quickly report to the commander of the Toshima Division.

The troops that have not crossed the river can retreat, but how can the troops that have already crossed the river and the troops that are in the middle of the river retreat?

The Chinese army on the position is not the ragtag army that blocked them before, they are the central army with strong firepower, unlike the Sichuan army that lacks guns and ammunition, when the impenetrable bullet rain formed by Makqin and the Czech style and the Chinese formalities was poured into the rubber boat in the middle of the river, a cruel scene appeared, constantly rubber boats were hit and leaked, horses and devil soldiers were constantly hit, and fell into the cold and biting river, and this small section of the Miluo River, which was already about to be frozen, was instantly dyed red by blood. The neighing of the undead war horses and the wails of the wounded soldiers of the devils made both sides of the river clearly audible to both sides of the river, and the tragic situation was unbearable. This part of the Japanese army that had already crossed the river, knowing that it was a dead end, and they had been extremely poisoned by militarism, they actually launched a suicidal charge, but their number was too small, where was there enough for the defenders to eat, even if they had war horses, they were wiped out before they could rush to the front of the position.

The victory in the first battle did not make Fu Zhongfang lose his mind and calm, he knew that the devil's retaliatory bombing and artillery bombardment would arrive soon, and without a moment's hesitation, he immediately ordered the defenders to retreat back and go to the archway two kilometers away from the river, where there were fortifications that had already been repaired, which was the second blocking position of his 99th Division.

In fact, Lao Jiang did not fully adopt Sun Yumin's suggestion, and the reason why there were three Central Army troops along the Miluo River was decided by him temporarily. Lao Jiang was worried that once he lost the battle of the rivers and natural dangers, the troops of the Ninth Theater might not be able to resist the pace of the Japanese army, and they might not be able to eat the invading devils in their pockets, so he would put heavy troops around the Miluo River, not only the three Central Army troops, but also the 20th Army of the Sichuan Army and the troops of the Guizhou Army and the Hunan Army.

When the devil's retaliatory heavy artillery bombardment sounded on the south bank of the Miluo River, Sun Yumin, who was far away in Zhuzhou, also sighed in the command headquarters: "Forcibly blocking the enemy by the Miluo River, although it will have a positive and favorable side to the battle situation, it will cause great casualties to the defending troops. ”

"Junzao, don't worry about this, no one will listen, all the high-level wants is the victory of the war, where will the casualties of the troops." Deng Dongping comforted on the side.

"I know it's useless, but I can't bear to see the soldiers below pay the price of their lives and blood because of the confusion of the commander, and these sacrifices and costs are actually completely avoidable." Sun Yumin's words were extremely regretful.

"Junzuo, the devils have hit the Miluo River, why didn't the top order us move, although it is not far from Zhuzhou to Changsha, but we have to give us some time to react and deploy, Huzi has already asked and urged several times, when can the 20th Division set off?"

"Let them wait a little longer, I guess the chairman wants to see the outcome of the battle by the Miluo River, and then finally decides to let us move." Sun Yumin looked very helpless, when he offered advice at that time, he was already prepared to be tampered with. In the early battle, Lao Jiang was able to arrange it according to his own ideas, which is already a great progress, you can't force him to just act as a mouthpiece, this is impossible.

"Then we're just staring at the back like this? Do nothing? Do nothing too? Deng Dongping was a little discouraged.

"Of course not!" Sun Yumin's tone suddenly became very firm, and he said to Deng Dongping: "You ask Director Tang to call the chairman, the 12th Army is ready to fight a big victory, and ask the chairman to give an order to let the 12th Army march to the proposed location now!" ”

Sun Yumin knew very well that it was difficult to make Lao Jiang completely follow his advice, but it was not impossible, and it depended on what he used to tempt him, as he just said, "a big victory", which was enough to become a fatal temptation to Lao Jiang.

After the battle reached the Miluo River, the already worried old Chiang could not be quiet, and from the 28th when the three divisions of the Japanese army arrived on the north bank of the Miluo River, he could not sleep all night, although the enemy was blocked by the river, he was also worried.

Every time there is a big war, Chen Bui must be by Lao Jiang's side, and this time is no exception, seeing his worried look, he opened his mouth to comfort: "President, there are many generals ahead, Boling and Yumin are here, you don't have to worry too much." ”

"Yan Ji, don't worry about it, don't worry about it, where can you! Although Boling is the commander of the Ninth Theater of Operations, sometimes his orders may not work, and the people below are not unclear to you, on the surface they accept his command, but behind the scenes, they are disobedient, and the fighters on the battlefield are fleeting, if they can't resolutely and thoroughly carry out the order, even if Li Zongren is replaced to fight this battle, they are still powerless. Lao Jiang seemed exhausted, he was telling the truth, although Xue Yue was nicknamed Little Tiger, but in fact, he took his orders seriously, except for his descendants, few people would be completely faithful, and they would always try their best to preserve their strength.

And it is different if Lao Jiang comes forward, Liao Lingqi's death is imminent, and even the famous generals of the 74th Army who have made great achievements in the war will be shot, and the generals of the participating troops in the Ninth Theater will not weigh it.

"President, do you really want to fight to the death with the Japanese by the Miluo River?"

Chen Bui asked this sentence, Lao Jiang did not respond, his heart was going up and down, these days of war reports made him have the illusion, thinking that the Miluo River could fight with the Japanese army, but he was worried that he did not follow Sun Yumin's advice, resulting in the loss of the war. In the end, it was an all-out battle to keep the enemy at bay on the Miluo River; Or just force a wave, then retreat and put the devil in a big pocket? These two options are like two multiple-choice options, which put Lao Jiang in a dilemma for a while.

"President, I think the tactics of the last few days were correct, if you look at the blocking in the past few days, although it has pushed the enemy forward a lot, it has caused them a lot of losses, and the most important thing is that it has dragged them into a tired army."